For the third time in the last 14 months, Gary Goff will lead his Tiffin University Dragons into Fawcett Stadium in Canton, right next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Dragons' first two trips there - for games with Malone last season and this season - have been tough on TU. The Dragons lost both games in overtime.
Today, Tiffin will face a different opponent -2-5 Walsh, a former American Mideast Conference rival from the Dragons NAIA days.
Times have changed. The Cavaliers are Division II now, and in their first season in the GLIAC.
Goff said Walsh's game plan is simple.
"They're old school football," Goff said. "They want to run the football, control the clock and play defense."
Walsh's top running back is Toba Olarewaju, who's averaging 87 yards a game. Quarterbacks Jack Dawson and Kevin Besser are averaging about 95 yards through the air, and the team has about 125 passing yards a game.
What impresses Goff, though is the Cavaliers' defense.
"I think their defense is very good," Goff said. "They've got a very good defense."
So how does TU combat that defense?
"You want to establish the run in every game, no question about that," Goff said. "But they're very stingy.
"We've got to make some plays down the field like we did last week," Goff said. "At the same time, try to get the running game going some."
The Dragons will be going for a few things today. A win over the Cavaliers would give them their first GLIAC road win, their first two-game winning streak in the GLIAC, and their first winning streak of any kind since 2007.
Goff said he wasn't sure if quarterback James Capello would be ready to play today. The usual starter has missed each of the last two games with an injury. With him out, Dan Pitts has stepped in and done a very nice job.
"I can't remember, any place I've ever been, where we've had a backup quarterback kind of come in and play as good as your starter, or even better in some cases," Goff said. "We were real careful with him when we first put him in there ... but I'm not scared to open up anything and everything to him. He's done a very good job."
Kickoff is at noon.
